Poseidon's Wake

The first book in this trilogy was good, the second was just OK, and this, the third volume, is not so much bad, but just dull.

Perhaps I ought to give this book an ironic score of 4.2 as it does set out a rather nihilistic answer to the question, “What's the meaning of life, the universe, and everything”.
Ho, Hum.

The final book in the trilogy has a similarly grand sweep to the first two, showing yet further developments in Earth and its solar system, even as the main focus moves further away to the exploration of a new star system. The claims on the cover that it's standalone aren't really accurate. While it's true that most of the characters are new - the two main protagonists are the children of some of those in the previous book, continuing the generational nature of the saga - it's very much an extension of what has gone before, and there are plenty of references back to the events of the prior books.

It's perhaps not quite as good as the previous books, either, though still high quality. There are some great scenes here, particularly the interaction between the humans and the elephants (also the descendants of those in the prior books), but some of the technology being encountered is just a little too alien and mysterious to be generating quite the same ‘future of humanity' vibe. But I'll note that I also really liked the ending, which brings both a sense of finality to the trilogy, and a sense that the grand sweep of future history marches on to new vistas.